Ancient identification help

[coinsandmedals]

My dad asked me to help him identify these coins. I personally do not collect ancient coins, so I am hoping one of the seasoned members here could lend him a hand. Thanks in advance for any information.

Coin #1 (diameter: 19 mm)

Coin # 2 (diameter: Approx 17 mm)

Coin #3 (diameter: Approx 14 mm)

[JKK]

Got diameters? They make a major difference because in the case of late bronzes (especially), it tells us which area to start looking. I think I can help you if I can get that info, though a little more light on the third obverse would help a lot as the legend seems very sketch to decipher.

[coinsandmedals]

11 hours ago, JKK said:

Got diameters? They make a major difference because in the case of late bronzes (especially), it tells us which area to start looking. I think I can help you if I can get that info, though a little more light on the third obverse would help a lot as the legend seems very sketch to decipher.

I appreciate your willingness to help! I added the diameter information next to each coin number. I did my best to get a better picture of the obverse of #3. That coin is particularly dark and the legend is very faint. 

[JKK]

Fitting them in as I can. Okay, #1 first: Constantine I AE billon centenionalis, 324 CE, Heraclea. Obv. laureate head R, CONSTANTINVS AVG; rev. wreath enclosing VOT/XX with dot, DN CONSTANTINI MAX AVG; in ex. SMHB[dot]. Confidence is very high in ID: Sear 16224; Aorta p711, 1350). Might be worth neighborhood of $12-16 due to very readable and pleasing condition, but not much more simply because Constantine the Great's coins are very common. To look up values, use Sear 16224 or just S-16224.

[JKK]

#2: Valentinian I AE centenionalis, 367-375 CE, Siscia. Obv. Diademed (pearls) draped, cuirassed bust R, DN VALENTINIANVS PF AVG; rev. Victory advancing left w/wreath and palm, */F in left field, M in right, in ex. [delta]SISC. Sear 19509; Aorta p903, 667). Another pretty common emperor and denomination, about the same value.

[coinsandmedals]

Thank you for your help JKK. You made the search effort look effortless. Out of curiosity, I checked out a few websites and I am completely blown away by the sheer amount of information available for ancient coins in general. What an interesting area of numismatics! 

[JKK]

I could rhapsodize (probably to the point of tedium for most) about the joys of collecting ancients. I love to hand someone a coin and say: "This is twenty-five centuries old. When it was minted, Rome was just a podunk and Marathon hadn't happened. It is greatly ancient."

While I think most coin enthusiasts are like historians--happy to volunteer their knowledge spurred by a love of their subjects, which are closely allied--in the history world it has also been observed that antiquarians are some of the most helpful and welcoming. In my own rather brief experience with ancients, I have certainly found that to be the case. Our club's leading ancients expert took me under his wing immediately, gave me good deals on stuff, helped me with IDs, gave me a free copy of a pivotal research reference.

On Roman Imperial stuff--bearing in mind that there are also provincial, commemorative (as this one you posted),and usurper issues to run across--as a general rule, the ID process looks like this. I go into it because you so kindly said I made it look effortless. In reality, it's kind of a science, an exciting process of methodical discovery that only looks like magic if you can't see behind the curtain. Remember the words BORTE: bust, obverse legend, reverse legend, type (reverse), and exergue (the stuff at bottom reverse that complicated your coin).

There are only so many of each of the above five identifier categories for each denomination and emperor. Now and then we find a new one, but we know about 99% or more of them (at least we think we do). So. If you can make out any one of those five factors, definitively, you can rule out any possibility that doesn't have it. For example, the VRBS ROMA aspect. That combined with the Romulans nursing on the wolf (anyone could see they were not Klingons or Cardassians) absolutely nailed this as a commem, and there are only so many of those, so I listed all the mints I saw. But let's say it was a regular strike and you didn't know who the bust was, but you could make out the legend on obverse. Great! Usually that has the emperor's name; for example, IMP GALLIENVS PF AVG is one of the 51 known obverse legends for Gallienus. So now you are definitely looking in Gallienus, for issues of a certain denomination (thus diameter and metal), and it can only be one of the issues that has that legend. Oh my god, he has over 400 reverse legends! That is fantastic, not bad. Because once you make it out, now you know two of BORTE. Everything that doesn't match (usually the vast bulk), that ain't it. Usually it's common and there are about 20-50 candidates, though, so you use that to hint at the bust (obviously, if all candidates have a certain bust, this is a pretty strong hint). Reverse is usually more obvious, but can have many variations. So you narrow that down. Lastly, of everything that matches the above four plus denomination, you see which matches the exergue. There are only so many reasonable possibilities and you can nearly always nail it.

But what if the exergue is the best part, you can't even read the obverse legend, etc.? Great. Then begin with what you do know. If it's got a star in the field, SMAN[delta] in exergue, anything that doesn't have that, that ain't your coin. There will be only so many issues of that denomination with that specific field and exergue combo, including oficina mark (the [delta] in my example). Look at all those that match that, see if the rest matches what you can see. I can't tell you how many Roman bronzes I've IDed for people when the obverse legend was all little puddly blobs (at least I could count the letters and be prompted for what the shapes may once have been) and the bust was well worn. I started with what I knew.

[coinsandmedals]

 

I really enjoyed reading your post JKK. I can tell you have a passion for these coins. I could not agree more about spreading knowledge and the strong sense of community among collectors. That sense of community paired with the historical exploration of numismatics is what really made my interest in numismatics explode.
While reading your post I couldn’t help but smile because I could feel that sense of community and passion. Your methods closely mirror what I used to practice when I solely focused on early American copper. While doing what little research I could on a few other ancient coins I tried to employ the wisdom you shared. I found it helpful to have a “start here” guide.

[JKK]

It's nice to help a kindred spirit. If you ever want to delve a bit further into Roman coinage, or at least equip yourself to ID almost anything Imperial, the most compact resource is Aorta by Rasiel Suarez. If you have trouble reading small print, you may actually need magnification, but it is well worth it. I just found a damaged one on Ebay for $18--a little tape, most likely, and you'd be set for a book that normally costs $40-80 used.

Let me know if you need any more help with ancients. The major references that cover a broader spectrum aren't common, and I have the basics on my shelves.

#3 is tough because I can't get even a hint about the obverse legend, and the wreath pieces don't have a reverse legend. However, I can see that the obverse is a diademed (pearls) bust (I think there's enough shoulder there not to be just the head) right. The bust could be draped, cuirassed, or both. Reverse is wreathed VOT XX MVLT XXX, no legend. Exergue is xMANRx, where the first x is a bit difficult and the second could easily be some non-letter oficina mark (there are *spoon*tons of oficina marks that aren't actual letters, but symbols; dots are very common, but there are stars, little squiggles, etc.). Anyway, those are the tells that I see that give you a fighting chance to ID it. I'd bet it's Constantine I through Constantius II and I'd look at all the instances of that specific reverse and then narrow down by ignoring anything that could not match your exergue. Denomination is quite probably AE4, which helps a lot as there were usually more AE3 issues, but there's no certain joy there because it's possible this began life as an AE3. The cutoff for AE3 according to Suarez is 15mm. So I'd search AE3 and AE4 on Wildwinds (make sure to show the page with the images at right) for each of those emperors, and search on MVLT XXX as that's the most certain narrowing factor. You might nail it right away.

[coinsandmedals]

You are very kind JKK and I can not express how thankful I am for your help. I plan to take a shot at #3 as soon as time permits. I will post what I come up with and see what you think. I also purchased the copy of Aorta by Rasiel Suarez listed on eBay! 

[JKK]

Always glad to help. Aorta doesn't have everything--nothing has everything--just about 99.5%. What that does not have, Wildwinds may. But even when Aorta doesn't have the exact combo, it will have enough near misses that you may be able to conclude you discovered an unlisted item. Welcome aboard the chariot!